First Days
by emmylouuwho
Summary: One shots of different characters' first experiences at the ARC, a very unusual workplace.
1. Becker

**_Author's Note: So this started out as a simple one shot of Becker's first day with a touch of Sarah/Becker, then I got inspired to do more first days. _****_So I'm about halfway done with Sarah, and then I'll probably do Matt, Jess, Danny... any of the characters who are introduced after the ARC is originally set up. Anyway, enjoy!_**

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><p>Becker was not having the best day. Not only was his new job at a place called the ARC, where they fought dinosaurs - actual <em>dinosaurs<em> - but on his first day, they'd had an anomaly alert at the British Museum. Talk about a containment nightmare. Granted, it happened during the night, when the museum was closed, but it was still a huge area to cover. And there had been an eyewitness, a staff member. Sarah Page. She'd seen the body of a woman killed by a creature, assumed that his team was responsible, and almost managed to run out of the building. Which would've been a containment nightmare Lester wouldn't have thanked Becker for. Luckily, sort of, Dr. Page met the creature just as she was about to leave, which convinced her that they hadn't killed her friend. But didn't do a lot to keep a lid on the situation._ At least she's helping us_, Becker thought glumly. This new job was not working out exactly as he'd hoped it would.

The team Becker was supposed to protect was headed by Nick Cutter, a man who'd just lost his best friend to creatures taken from anomalies, and seemed to distrust the military on principle. Lester told Becker not to take Professor Cutter's dislike personally, but it did make the job more difficult.

And then there were the two other civilians, Abby Maitland and Connor Temple. Abby was some sort of animal expert, which was useful, but Becker found Connor irritating. He was one of those over-enthusiastic geek types, and Becker found his chatter grating after less than two hours.

This moment almost made up for all the previous disasters of the day, however.

Becker stood off to the side while Temple opened his toolbox. A wrench flew out as soon as it was open, knocking against a corner of the suncage as it was magnetically pulled into the anomaly. A fragment of the artifact broke off, falling with a metallic _clang_ to the floor. Dr. Page turned at the sound, looking in horror at the broken sherd. Temple picked up the piece, then looked guiltily at Dr. Page.

"I didn't do it," he said quickly.

"It just, it fell off, by itself," she replied, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Yep."

Becker could see her think for a moment before replying. "The suncage is cursed."

Connor stood slowly, still holding the fragment.

"Anyone who touches it is... doomed for life," she continued.

Temple dropped the fragment as if it were burning him. Becker resisted the urge to laugh with difficulty.

"Really?" Connor was obviously buying the doctor's story, hook, line, and sinker. But Becker was trained in interrogation and could tell that she'd made up the story on the spot.

"Marian was the last person to touch that."

Temple began to wipe his hand on his vest, as though trying to wipe away the supposed curse. "The... dead one..."

Dr. Page gave him a significant look, turned back to her notebook, then looked back at Connor again, her face scrunched in mock confusion.

"Shoulda told you that earlier, right? Sorry about that. Bad luck."

"Bad luck," Becker echoed. _That woman is brilliant._

This was completely worth being called to the British Museum in the middle of the night. He watched with a smirk as Connor sat down heavily, looking as if he'd just been given a death sentence. A crash told him that the vase atop the box Connor had just sat upon had fallen to the floor. Dr. Page looked over and sighed. Clearly, Connor Temple was going to be trouble. For both of them. Becker made a mental note to keep anything breakable or dangerous away from him. _Unless it's a computer_, he amended.


	2. Sarah

**Author's Note: Sorry for the delay, it's been a long week. Lots of distractions- dress rehearsals, sewing costumes, and a furry eight-week old hellion I'm attempting to house train. Emphasis on _attempting_. Sigh. Anyway, enjoy, and Danny's will be up soon.**

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><p>Sarah Page was still a bit in awe of her surroundings as followed Connor down the corridor. She'd just met the head of the ARC - not the biblical one, though this one had its fair share of rare creatures - who was an extremely rude man named Lester. <em>And according to Connor, that was him being nice.<em> She struggled to keep up as Connor strode purposefully down one of the many white and silver corridors.

"So this is what you do, is it?" she asked. "You, uh, you deal with these anomalies as and when they occur."

"This is what we do," Connor confirmed as he turned suddenly into a small lab. Lester and Nick Cutter were already inside, on the opposite side of a transparent board filled with equations. Cutter had said he was a professor. _'I've never seen a professor with a gun before.'_ And it was true; at least not outside of an Indiana Jones film. Sarah slid the strap of her bag off her shoulder, letting it drop to the floor, and set down the beer she'd forgotten she was holding.

"I can't _believe_ I saw Amut," she said enthusiastically, then quickly amended, "or what the Egyptians thought was Amut." She smiled to herself. She knew plenty of people, mostly her former professors, who would kill to see what she'd seen that morning. "A genuine, living legend."

Cutter's back was to her and the rest of the room, leaning against a table along the wall. Lester leaned against the same table, facing them, arms crossed, feigning indifference. At her words, Cutter muttered something. "Legends." With that he slapped his hand down on the table, causing Sarah to jump. He turned back to the rest of the room, his face alight with realization, discovery.

"Yes. If anomalies have appeared in the past - and they have - if _Pristichampsus_ is sunning itself on the banks of the Nile three thousand years ago, that's the stuff of legend."

Sarah could see how he'd be a popular professor; his enthusiasm was contagious.

"Anything that seems out of place, out of time. Like..." Cutter snapped his fingers, trying to think.

"Like Chimera," Sarah supplied. "Um... Pegasus."

"The Yeti," Connor offered with a grin.

"The Hydra."

"Kraken."

Cutter clapped his hands together, holding them beneath his chin as he stepped to the equation-covered board.

"I've been looking at this all wrong. I've been thinking two-dimensionally."

He stepped around the board to stand in front of Sarah, leaning over her slightly in his excitement.

"How much do you know about mythological beasts?"

Was he kidding? A lot. She knew a lot. It was what drew her to archaeology in the first place. The strange beasts different cultures created, especially the Egyptian gods, neither human nor animal in form. But what if they weren't all stories, all creations? She blinked, realizing Cutter was still waiting for an answer from her.

"Well, um... my thesis on it is in the British Library."

Without another word to her, looking as if Christmas had come early, Cutter turned to Lester. "She stays."

Sarah moved back into Cutter's field of vision, her brow creased in frustration. _What if I don't want to stay?_ "Do I get a say in any of this?"

He turned back to her. "Yes, yes, of course." He looked at her as if she were wasting time. "I would like you to join us here at the Anomaly Research Centre. I want you working on the source of all the great myths. Where they were first spotted, when, by whom, can you find a pattern." He paused, a slight smirk pulling at his lips. "Or you could go back to lecturing school kids. Your choice."

_Touché, Professor._ This did sound _way_ better than her daily lectures to a bunch of fidgety gradeschoolers. But then of course, there was the fact that she'd almost been eaten; and Marian had been. Connor, standing behind Cutter, made a exaggerated face - as if he were weighing the options, complete with "eh-eh" noise and a so-so gesture - then gave her a look that said, _Are you actually considering saying no?_ Was she? Sarah's glance strayed to Lester, who was watching them impassively. She really couldn't see herself going back to the museum. Not after all this.

"Okay," she said, turning back to Cutter. "I'm in."

"Great news! I feel safer already." Clearly, Lester's sarcasm was something Sarah would have to get used to.


	3. Jenny

**Author's Note: Another long week, which wasn't helped by the weather (this is the only time I regret living in the south. Humidity = gross). Anyway, this is just a short one, but I'm partway done with Matt, and I have the weekend off, so I should have another one up by then.**

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><p>Jenny Lewis pulled her mobile out angrily, mentally cursing the infuriating man she was forced to work with. <em>First he calls me Claudia, acting like a complete lunatic, and now he's ignoring me.<em> Her teeth clenched, she dialed the ARC's team leader once again.

It was her first day as PR specialist at the ARC, a government facility that dealt with anomalies, and occasionally dinosaurs - although Jenny had trouble believing that last part. She had spent too many years spinning cover stories to believe everything she heard, even from the government. Especially from the government. Her new boss, James Lester, seemed to take her skepticism in stride, assuring her that no one who worked there remained skeptical for long.

She waited as each ring sounded in her ear, the sound of her grinding teeth loud in her ears. After several seconds, he answered. _Finally._

"It's me," Jenny said, holding in her frustration as best she could. "Why haven't you been answering any of my calls?"

"Been a bit busy," Nick Cutter replied tersely.

Jenny made a snap decision. "Listen, I'm coming up."

"No!" he snapped. "No. Don't do that."

She couldn't tell if he was irritated with her or anxious about whatever was going on up there. She didn't know. _And that's the point. How can I do my job if I don't know what the bloody hell is going on?_ Her job, which she'd had for less than twenty-four hours, was impossible when she didn't even know what she was supposed to be spinning. The people who came out of the building kept telling her absurd stories about creatures, giant worm-like creatures, coming out of the fog that appeared, apparently coming through the anomaly. She wasn't sure she believed them, but to be able to create a convincing cover story, Jenny needed to know the actual story first.

"I'm tired of this. I want to know what's going on and, quite frankly, you can't stop me."

"Alright, you take the stairs to the twelfth floor, and I'll meet you there. Now, don't use the lifts." He paused, and she stifled a sigh. _The stairs? Really?_ "I'll repeat that for you. Don't use the lifts."

"Yeah, fine whatever."

Jenny hung up the phone, turning toward the stairwell. She looked at the door to the stairwell, imagining the blisters she would have after climbing all those steps with her current footwear.

"Twelve flights in heels?" she muttered, shaking her head. "Men!"


	4. Danny

**Author's Note: Sorry this one took so long, I couldn't decide which episode I wanted to do, since Danny is kind of unofficial for a while. Enjoy!**

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><p>Danny Quinn climbed into the pilot seat, hurriedly flipping switches. He slid the headphones over his head, trying to remember what he needed to do. <em>OK, that one, then this, no wait...<em>

Finally, he got the helicopter off the ground, weaving for a few seconds before he steadied the controls. _Alright, I remember this, this is easy._

Danny steered the chopper toward the runway. The dinosaur was leaning over the kid, Connor, looking as though it was about to eat him. The giant teeth were inches away from Connor's face. Danny swung the small aircraft around, close to the dinosaur's head, distracting it.

"Come on, you ugly sod. Let's have you."

He got what he wanted, and the dinosaur seemed more interested in the helicopter than in Connor. _Now what do I do with it?_ He flew off in the other direction, and the creature lumbered along after him, roaring.

"Identify yourself please." A woman's voice came over the radio in his headphones. _They better be calling to thank me._ "Would you please identify yourself?"

"Uh, bear with me a sec," he answered, face to face with the dinosaur, at least through the windshield of the helicopter. "A little bit busy at the moment."

"_Danny?_ Do you have the first idea what you're doing up there?"

"Don't worry, I'm an experienced pilot."

"How experienced?"

"Uh, two lessons. But they went unbelievably well."

Well, technically, it had been more like one and a half lessons, but Danny had always been good with machines. This wasn't much more difficult than his motorbike. The dinosaur chose that moment to lunge upwards, snapping its massive jaws at him. _OK, maybe a little different._

"Alright, what's the plan?"

_A plan? She's the one who does this kind of thing for a living, and she wants a plan!_ Danny turned the chopper around, circling the dinosaur's head, and spotted the open hangar, the flickering light inside just visible.

"Well, to be honest, I'm pretty much making it up as I go along."


	5. Jess

Jess Parker spent her official first day on the job rereading files. They'd allowed her to read everything before she started work, once she'd signed all the non-disclosure paperwork. But they'd also given her two weeks to herself - _if you don't count the creatures -_ to get ready for the return of the ARC employees. And, in reality, it would only take her about a day and a half.

Besides, she was fascinated by the mission reports and files of the old ARC. They'd been through so much together, the old team - Nick Cutter, Connor Temple, Abby Maitland, Stephen Hart, Captain Becker, Jenny Lewis, Sarah Page, Danny Quinn. They'd discovered the most heavily guarded, and least understood, secret on the planet. The anomalies. If it weren't for the prehistoric creatures a few floors below, Jess would still be having trouble believing it herself.

And they'd lost so much because of the anomalies. Professor Cutter, Stephen, and Dr. Page were dead because of them. Jenny had quit because of them. And three more - Abby, Connor, and Danny - had gone missing through one. The only person who remained was Capt. Becker. Jess couldn't even begin to imagine what that must be like, losing so many colleagues, friends.

Jess reread the files on the missing three in particular. She liked the look of Abby, she seemed like a funny, out going person, despite her choice in profession as a zoologist (Jess was decidedly uncomfortable around the creatures). She was also tough, a fighter. _She'll need that,_ Jess thought sadly. Abby and Connor, along with Jess' new boss Lester, had been part of the ARC the longest. From the very beginning, in the Forest of Dean.

Connor was the team's requisite computer genius. He'd built both the anomaly detector and the locking devices. Of course, Jess had made a few improvements on the ADD, but it was still essentially Connor's program. And while he was a genius, he was clearly not cut out for field work. At least according to several reports filed by Lester and Captain Becker. Jess sincerely hoped this wasn't the case. He'd need whatever defensive skills he had to survive on the other side of an anomaly. At least he had Abby and Danny with him.

Danny was the old team leader, and a former police constable. He was what Lester often referred to in his reports as a 'maverick,' disobeying orders whenever he felt the need to in order to get things done. His incident reports were the most fun to read in Jess' opinion. They were more like hearing a story from a friend, told over a pint at the end of the day, rather than an official report. Granted, the stories were filled with prehistoric monsters and narrow escapes. But still, when she read them, she could almost hear Danny speaking to her directly, despite the fact that she'd never met him.

Jess already felt like she knew these people, these strangers, who weren't strangers. She'd never met them, but she knew their stories. She almost felt as though she missed them. And, despite his brusque demeanor, Jess could tell Lester worried about the three of them as well, hoping they would return. And Jess found herself doing the same, hoping against hope that they'd make it back safely one day.


	6. Matt

**Author's Note: Sorry I've been AWOL lately. Lots of stuff to do, and it's only gonna get worse in the next couple weeks. Anyway, enjoy the last one-shot in this series.**

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><p>Matt Anderson didn't want to like his new colleagues. Any of them. In his father's oft repeated words, <em>'It could be any one of them.'<em> Any of these seemingly normal, friendly people could bring about the sterilization of the planet. He didn't want to like them, but he needed them to like him. More than that, he needed them to trust him. In order to discover who was the key to the anomaly disasters of the future, he had to become the consummate leader and scientist. Someone who wouldn't arouse suspicion. Someone people confided in. It was a daunting prospect, considering the ARC staff was still reeling from the recent death of Sarah Page, along with the continued absence of three members of their team. He kept all that in mind as he spoke at length to the team.

"... Over the last few months, a lot of you have testified to the last mission of the old ARC. Well, yesterday, that investigation was officially wrapped up. Abby Maitland, Connor Temple, and Danny Quinn have been pronounced missing, presumed dead."

He looked around at the ARC employees, scientists, technicians, soldiers, and saw their reaction to his announcement. These people had been their friends, coworkers. Captain Becker looked especially stoic. Becker didn't like him, Matt knew that. He didn't seem to like anyone, except perhaps Jess. But then again, he'd lost a great deal. Matt understood that - losing people.

"I would like to make it clear today that this means absolutely nothing. Over the years, this organization has lost many brilliant people, including Nick Cutter, Stephen Hart, and, most recently, Sarah Page. But as far as I'm concerned, this does not include Abby Maitland, Connor Temple, and Danny Quinn. These people could still be out there fighting to stay alive. Fighting to make it home."

Home. Matt hoped never to see his home again, never to see that version of what the planet became. And hopefully, he never would. Hopefully, he could prevent it. If he found out who was responsible. _'It could be any one of them.'_

"We're not giving up on these guys," Matt concluded. "Not yet."

The team, subdued throughout his speech, clapped, enthusiastic at the prospect of retrieving their lost comrades. _That should do for now_, Matt thought. He needed them to trust him, and that was the way to go about it. Not that he didn't believe that the three of them were still out there, and he would bring them home if he could. He hoped they would make it home, and that none of them were to blame for the destruction he was supposed to prevent. But that was his ultimate goal, his mission. Preventing the end of the world. That trumped everything else, even personal attachments.


End file.
